I'm back!

Oh thank goodness, I can type again!

After I came back to the home from Thanksgiving with Mother and Grandmother, I was faced with a new problem of sorts. Christmas was close by, and I had to figure out how to celebrate Christmas in my new environment. So many of the kids were sad to be at the home at Christmas time, but I thought that maybe I could spread some cheer. I had begun to really relax and enjoy the home experience, especially if I stayed away from the matron. I was still really scared of her, and this because of several more incidents of her punishing some of the other girls. I loved Mrs. Thompson so much, and wanted her to be proud of me, so I did all I could to be a "good" girl and not cause her any worry. We sort of had a secret message between us, she would go out of her way for me and I would run errands and do other things to let her know that I appreciated her care. Now, this brings my back to Christmas. I thought I could bake Christmas cookies to surprise the girls. I still had 3 weeks until it was actually Christmas day, but I thought it would be fun to have the cookies throughout the season. I approached Mrs. Thompson for permission to begin to bake. She was excited about my idea and offered to help. She said we could make Christmas candies as well, fudge, divinity, and hard candies. We could also do brownies and decorate the cookies too. I was so tickled! Some of the other girls wanted to take part, and so the first Saturday of December we gathered in the kitchen to start our Christmas cookie project.
Just for atmosphere, we all put on aprons that I had made in the sewing shop. Mrs. Thompson had set out huge canisters of flour and sugar, a large container of shortening and lined up bottles of vanilla, lemon and other flavor extracts and also had out baking powder and salt. Large cookie sheets gleaming with the cleaning they had received lay waiting on the counter for their Christmas treats. Next to the ingredients was a large bag of shelled pecans, chocolate chips, raisins and marshmallow creme. There were several bottles of colored sugar to sprinkle on the cookies and other bottles of cookie toppings like chocolate sprinkles, confetti sprinkles and tiny silver balls. There were bottles of food coloring too and a huge bag of powdered sugar. Metal cookie cutters were lined up next to several big mixing bowls with tan wooden spoons inside each one. I felt like Mrs. Clause must have felt as I stood in the middle of all this Christmas cookie glory. As usual, Mrs. Thompson made everything wonderful. We set to work with spirits high. It didn't take long until our spirits were not so high. Cookie baking turned out to be a lot of work! We had to mix everything by hand, and it wasn't long before our arms and hands began to become tired. Measuring, mixing and cracking eggs, mixing again, adding more flour, mixing again, we silently dared anyone to complain. This was Christmas cookie day, and we were going to enjoy it or else! Then, the cookie dough was mixed and waiting in the several bowls that we used. Now, the fun part. And what I mean is, now we could nibble at the cookie dough! But I didn't take into account that perhaps Mrs. Thompson would not like us nibbling at the cookie dough. She didn't. When I went back for perhaps the 7th nibble, I received a light rap to my hand with a wooden spoon. In surprise, I looked at Mrs. Thompson. "Jodie, this is your project" she said, "now stop gobbling the cookie dough and start rolling it out. We are here to make cookies, and cookies we are going to make!" She took the threat out of the incident by the twinkle in her eye and with a little wink in my direction, she handed me a rolling pin. She took a rolling pin of her own and told us all to watch as she sprinkled a mixture of flour and sugar on the work surface and placed a ball of dough in the middle of it. With deft hands, Mrs. Thompson rolled up and down, right and left and soon had a perfect circle of cookie dough, just the right thickness for cookie cutting. I tried to emulate her actions, but the dough stuck to the rolling pin, stuck to the table and refused to go into a circular shape. The other girls were not faring so well either and soon flour was dusting the air and odd shapes were appearing on the table. In frustration, I asked Mrs. Thompson what I was doing wrong. With her usual loving attitude, she explained that she had had about 40 more years of experience than I did and it would take time to learn to roll out cookies. Meanwhile, we could still cut the dough even if it wasn't perfectly round and flat. Well, that was a relief! At the rate we were going, we would have the cookies done in time for Christmas next year! After doing our best to roll out the dough, we each picked out the cutters we wanted to use and went to work. Mrs. Thompsons cut-out shapes lifed off the table perfectly and slid onto the cookie pan. Mine broke apart and stuck to the spatula. Her dough was easily handled, mine was getting stiff with the flour that I used to roll it out. I began to feel sorry for myself. Stupid cookies. Stupid, stupid cookies! Some of the other girls were having more success than I was, and were really having fun. I wanted to have fun too. I decided to drop my pride and ask for help. Time was passing and seeing the desperation in my face, Mrs. Thompson called me over. She told me that not everyone could be a cookie baker, but maybe I could be a fudge maker. Yeah! I could be a fudge maker! How hard could fudge be? As golden brown cookies lay cooling all around me, I began to make fudge with Mrs. Thompson. Just to let you know, Fudge can be plenty hard to make. After chopping pecans I was told to measure milk, sugar and cocoa powder into a large sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and do not stop stirring, no matter what. I did as I was told, and soon my hand was getting hot. The mixture began to bubble and little bubbles burst on the top and splattered upward. It only took one little splatter to realize that you had to stir and keep your hand away from the splattering, boiling mixture. The mixture had to boil for at least 5 minutes, and that was a very long 5 minutes for me! Finally I could turn off the fire and keep stirring as the vanilla and some butter were added. Keep stirring until the fudge thickened up. More stirring, over and over and I couldn't even taste it because it was so hot. I had to stir it until it began to cool, and that seemed to take forever. At last, I could add the pecans and pour the fudge into a buttered pan. Boy, all that just for fudge? But, it turned out great and I realized that maybe I could be a fudge maker! By the afternoon, the kitchen was filled with cookies that had been frosted, sprinkled, and colored. Stacks of cookies waiting to go inside canisters really brought the Christmas season to life. The fudge was cut into squares and placed into another canister and we were all so proud of ourselves. We had Christmas cheer for all the girls and it wasn't so bad to make. Clean up was another matter. Goodness, we washed bowls, spoons, pans, cutters and measuring items. We wiped down counters, tables and cutting boards. We put the ingredients away and swept and mopped the floor. Dish towels and aprons had to be washed as well. Just as we thought we were out of the woods, the matron came into the kitchen and told us that since we were already in the kitchen we could go ahead and make dinner for the cottage. Grinning, she walked over, picked up a cookie, sniffed it and shoved it into her sloppy, wet, undulating mouth. (Mindy said that she wished she had poisoned that cookie.) Shoot. We were already tired of being in the kitchen, but the old dragon had spoken, and so we started cooking again. It was different for us that night, as we had formed a comaraderie while cookie baking. We were cookie friends. We pulled together and turned out a supper while laughing and having fun. Christmas season brings many good tidings and gifts, but some gifts are more special. Cookie baking is just such a special gift.